Who is hitting their head (and on what) in this sentence? Clearly there are no such thing as soft cars when it comes to human skulls?
Pedestrians, struck by the vehicle. A typical hard pedestrian strike hits the legs, and the person flips over and hits their head on the hood. Modern vehicles ensure there is a significant gap between the hood and the engine, so the hood has room to deform and absorb the impact.
So yes, a large piece of thin sheet metal can be a relatively soft place for a skull to land.
Given that the metal of the hood deformed to her face, that’s a decent amount of impact energy. I would wager her outcome would’ve been even more gruesome had she carried that energy into a rigid, stainless steel hood.
The A-pillar or the engine (under the bonnet if there is not enough space between the two) are much more dangerous. Some cars have an active bonnet that can spring up to make room and give a softer landing.
There are degrees of hardness for sure, if I had to chose what I would be hit with I wouldn't go for a cyber truck